Box Score Box Score

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Conor Goepel had a terrific second half, scoring a goal and an assisting on the game-winning strike to lead the No. 18 Cornell soccer team to a 3-1 victory at Harvard on Saturday afternoon.
 
The teams were tied at 1-1 entering halftime, but the Big Red (10-0-0, 2-0-0 Ivy League) scored the only goals of the second half as birthday boy Rick Pflasterer had a season-high five saves to flummox the Crimson (1-6-3, 0-1-1) on offense.
 
“I told them beforehand all I wanted was a win for my birthday,” said the 22-year-old Pflasterer. “So having the win, I get to go home happy.”
 
The Big Red continues to set program records, re-extending its best ever start to a season with 10 consecutive wins and increasing the school record for consecutive games with a goal to 25. Cornell reached 10 wins on the season for the first time since 1999 and is one win shy of tying the longest winning streak since 1995.
 
Scoring a goal with 2:25 left in the first half, Harvard looked as though it was ready to spoil the Big Red's perfect season. The Crimson kept the pressure going at the start of the second half and nearly scored on two different chances. Cornell forward Daniel Haber – who was held scoreless for just the second time all year – had his chance at goal on a breakaway early in the half, but his shot sailed wide.
 
Instead, the Big Red's second tally came off the head of junior defender Patrick Slogic. After Haber took a shot from the left corner of the 18-yard box that was blocked, he recollected it and found Goepel. Beating one defender, Goepel got back to that left corner of the box and launched a blistering cross to the far post. With Harvard keeper Joseph Festa playing the near post, the 6-foot-5 Slogic was all alone for the header and did not miss. The goal was the fifth of Slogic's career.
 
“The ball bounced to me and I just played it back in because I knew we had guys back on the post on the other side,” Goepel said. “It happened to work out right off Pat's head.”
 
Goepel put the game away himself on a play that started when Harvard's Richard Smith turned the ball over. Trying to pass the ball ahead on the left sideline, Smith's pass went off Tyler Regan's legs and bounced a manageable distance for the senior forward. Streaking toward the center of the field, Regan had a head of steam and Goepel coming strong to his left. Regan found Goepel, who had a free lane to the goal and buried the ball past Festa for the game-icing score.
 
Goepel ran to the left corner flag after the goal and kicked it in celebration, shattering the plastic pole down the middle.
 
“My favorite player is Wayne Rooney, and that's kind of his go-to celebration,” Goepel said. “I decided to do it for the first time in my career, and I guess didn't really end that well.”
 
Pflasterer got into the game in the early going, making a terrific diving save on a shot by Zach Wlfenzon just five minutes in. Pflasterer – whose six saves on the night tripled his previous season high – was then aided by Peter Chodas, who headed a Crimson corner kick off the goal line just before it found the back of the net.
 
With its defense successfully established, the Big Red got its offense going just a few minutes afterward. With the ball near midfield, senior Nico Nissl slotted a ball through to Stephen Reisert. With a little space in front of him, Reisert – who scored the team's game-winner against Penn last weekend – turned and fired low to the right, beating Festa for the 1-0 lead just 9:30 after the opening whistle.
 
Harvard, though, pushed strong on offense throughout the rest of the half and outshot Cornell by an 8-2 margin. The Crimson's efforts were finally rewarded with 2:25 left in the half. Jake Freeman put pressure on Pflasterer with a shot, and while Pflasterer made the initial save, Oliver White snuck into the box and drilled the rebound home.
 
“They definitely did a nice job putting us on our heels, especially in the first half,” Pflasterer said. “I had to do a little more work, and sometimes I have to do that, but it was a lot of fun for sure.”

The Big Red kept fighting on offense, though, netting two its second and third goals of the night in the final 30 minutes to seal a 2-0-0 start in the Ivy League for the second consecutive season.
 
Cornell is back at home on Tuesday night when it plays visiting Colgate. The contest will be Cornell's final non-conference action of the year.